Don't slide in with both feet with your studs up.  How stupid can you get?  Olave makes way too many tactical mistakes and this one cost big.  Going down a goal early sucks, especially since nobody marked the man standing on the penalty spot.  Should have been Beckerman.  Going down a goal early and then going down a man right before half pretty much sealed the game.  Otherwise, RSL did not do anything that they needed to.  They turned the ball over in the midfield, they didn't finsh the chances they had, the marking was generally poor and then with the red to Olave, what can be further said?

Add to the list of cRapids I hate Connor Casey.  For his size, he's a total pussy.  He should be a physical guy, but he backs off way too much.  He also knew he could goad Olave into doing something stupid, which he did (of course, this isn't the first time Olave has done something of this level of stupidity and I really question his tactical ability and fundamentals-he compensates with raw physical talent).  This isn't to say that Olave can't be refined, but right now, he's servicable and much better than anything else we have (Horst should be in USL 2).  PaBLOW did what he always does, but before RSL could really bring Mathis to bear to pick of the slack of an absent Morales, Olave was off and Mathis was playing on the back line (which he did well).  Reynish played well, I was actually more impressed with him than I have been with Seitz.  I really hope Rimando is ok, and heals fast.  With Horst getting the start next match, I really feel sorry for whoever is starting in goal against LA.  If Landycakes scores a hat trick, I think I will just leave and drink beer in the parking lot.  It will be nice to see Dema again.  I was sad to see him sent to LA.

        

I will not disguise it, I absolutely hate everything about the team from the other side of the mountains.

I hate their players, especially PaBLOW and Clark.  I REALLY hate their fans, they are nothing but a bunch of whiny little bitches.  It gave me pure pleasure to watch RSL at the last minute stick the dagger in their heart and watch them bleed to death.

I will give them some credit, they are a solid team now that they finally dumped Clavijo.  They clung to that piece of trash for entirely way too long.  Casey is doing what a good poacher should do, be in the right place at the right time.  Their wing play is solid.  Mathis and Johnson will be busy and Wingert and Russell need to play big.  I think this will be another game where Mathis becomes key.  RSL's strength should be the middle of the midfield, and if they can maintain possession, things will go RSL's way.  The problem is that in the middle is PaBLOW and as much as I hate that little bastard, he is a hell of a player and one of the most dominant holding midfielders in MLS.  I think that Ballouchy will get owned by Beckerman.  Ballouchy is like Adu, gets pushed off the ball way too easily and can't play a physical game.  I think that Olave and Borchers can handle Casey, as long as the outside backs keep the crosses shut down and the shots from distance for rebounds.

More than any other thing, RSL MUST MAINTAIN POSSESSION THROUGH THE MIDFIELD. This has been the biggest issue this season on the road.  RSL cannot afford to give up soft turnovers that lead to quick counters.  The other road issue has been giving up early goals.  RSL cannot play catch up in this match.  Also, don't play for the draw, play for the win.  A draw is not the desired result, but is a result you settle for.  That needs to be the mentality.  Road draws are a good result, but they are not optimal.

Also, the cRapid bastards are never going to see the Rocky Mountain Cup again unless they pry it from our cold, dead fingers.

        

Ok, as of Tuesday, I have everything turned in for the semester and I'm free for the summer (sort of-still have to work on my thesis)!!!

I sometimes wonder why I decided to go to grad school, the stress and all the hoops you have to jump through just suck.  I'm on the downhill side of it now though, so going to finish it out. 

The twins are doing extremely well.  They spent 10 weeks in the NICU, but are home, now weighing over 16 lbs.  I will have to post some pics later.  They are now starting to roll around, won't be long until they are crawling.

I am still looking forward to my dive trip to Cozumel, Mexico at the end of May.  I love diving Cozumel, the reefs are great and drift diving makes everything nice and careless as you float along.  I am hoping the swine flu panic is still going, that will mean that all the cruise ship passengers won't be there and so the island will be a whole lot less busy.  This should be a great vacation, I'm really looking forward to it. 

I will get into my thoughts on RSL later, in another post.  For now, just excited to be back blogging again.  Go RSL, beat the cRapids!!!

        

Is this a coincidence?



I really don't think it is...

Here's to Rio Tinto being the success that it already is.

        

We get another home playoff match!!! 

New York is tough, but I really think that Olave can mark JPA.  For anyone even thinking of coming to this game, be there!  This will be one way to show just exactly what our fanbase is all about.  If you want to stick it to that bastard Peter Carroon, here's your chance.  Not only do we need this full, we need it loud.  I've been in the Delta Center during a playoff game and this needs to be even louder than that.  This is Salt Lake's chance to shine.

So everyone show up, cheer on the lads and have a great time!

        

They are through to the second round!!!  I cannot believe how good this feels.

Movsisyan is just a fucking beast and Javier Morales needs to get any amount of money he wants.  Dema Fucking Kovalenko with a goal!!!  Dema has always been one of my favorite players, but I threw my beer all over my living room when he scored. 

I should probably talk about tactics and stuff, and believe me, I was very scared when Chivas brought in all their attacking players, but I do have to hand it to Zack Thorton, he came up big on a few different saves. 

Now, just pray for a New York win because after popping my Rio Tinto cherry last week, I am completely sold on the stadium.  Hell, even at $9 per cup, there is Guiness in the south end.

        

I know it's been a long time since I posted something new, so here's what's going on.

First, I have started work on my Master's Degree at Utah State and am now driving to Logan three times a week.  Utah State, in Special Collections at the Library has a collection, including many unpublished writings of Tomas Masaryk, the first president of Czechoslovakia.  I am the first to ever use this collection for scholarship.  The collection truly is remarkable, and the largest collection of Masaryk's writings outside the Czech Republic.  On top of that, my classes have truly been a huge strain on my time.  I am also a Graduate Assistant, which means I grade papers and do much of the grunt work for a professor.  I am assigned to Mark Damen, who teaches Classics, especially Latin and Greek.  The class is western civilization, which is a freshman-level class.  Other than being tedious and time consuming, grading papers isn't horrible. 

Now for the biggest news.  Mandy, my wife, had the twins on October 2.  Michael Edward and Thomas Henry.  They came about 2 1/2 months early, so they are still in the NICU in the hospital, but they are steadily progressing.  Hospital staff are telling us that they will probably be home the first part of December, depending on how they go.  At birth, both weighed 2 lbs. 12 oz., so pretty small, but they are doing ok so far.







I will have to post more later.

With all this, I don't have much to say about RSL, other than injuries still hurt, especially a d-mid.

        

This morning I read with alarm that the Russian Parliament had voted unanimously on a resolution urging Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to recognize the autonomy of the the regions of Georgia that recently broke away and were the cause of fighting and what amounted to a Russian invasion of Georgian territory.  To me this is a very ominous sign that I believe will lead to eventual Russian annexation of these two provinces.  This is merely the first step in Vladimir Putin's grand vision of reestablishing a Soviet-style state, but this time, with a market economy based on the natural resources that abound in Russia, especially Siberian oil.  It was a common theme from the ideological wing of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union that eventually the capitalists would sell the rope they would be hanged with.  In some regards, this image has some merit, as much as Germany and other Western state want to condemn Russian aggression, the reality is, the Russians can and have shown a willingness to shut off the oil supply to those who do not agree with their foreign policy goals.  What politician want to have to chose between having their own people cold during the winter and having fuel for their vehicles or the freedom of a few Georgians who don't have a vote to keep them in office?  Merkel of Germany, if she even really pushes the issue will cave to a threat of Russian shutting off the pipelines. 

        

Absolute shit! Has RSL even showed up in Cowlumbus yet?  That was absolutely horrible.  No excuse, even though I'm sure many will be forthcoming, especially the injury situation.  Sorry, but even without injuries, I expect the team to play like they actually want to be there.  But even though there should be no excuse forthcoming, I'm sure we're going to hear it, especially Tuesday night at the Coach's Show.  You can pour syrup on shit, but that doesn't make it pancakes.  They didn't even play like it was a job.  Total shit, completely dreadful, I'm ashamed to call myself a fan of the team that was on the pitch (I think) last night.

        

Ok, first impression, really sucks to miss Olave.  His one knock is that he's prone to yellow cards and so getting suspended hurts.  Horst didn't have a howler, but he was obviously outclassed by The Mighty Hawaiian Forehead.  Russell looked good, not as good as Wingert/Joy, but much better than Beltran.  Borchers played well, but had to compensate too often for Horst.  I was actually generally impressed with Kenny Culter.  He's not our #1 choice at d-mid by any stretch of the imagination, but he's a decent replacement and a great role-player on the team.  I don't think he'll ever blossom into a regular starter in this league, but he's good enough for the spot he fills at RSL.  Movsisyan, his goal to lead off the match was good, but the mids didn't really do much after that to get the ball to the forwards.  Findley, excellent, his passing has been a very pleasant surprise.  It was great to see Deuchar finally ghet one.  The most improved player on the team in my opinion is Andy Williams.  He is playing like a man possessed.  He started the season in shape, something he has never really done his entire career, he's playing defense and doing a great job feeding balls to the forwards.  His shot that glanced off the defender for a corner was tremendous, something our mids do too little of.  Beckerman for some reason has lately become almost a non factor.  He has been playing good defense, but seems to be almost playing a defensive midfield role, and not pushing into the offense.  I cannot tell if this is a purposeful move by Kreis or what the root cause is, but I can say it is hurting RSL's attack (but is helping the defending, so I guess that's a good thing). 

Now to Clint Mathis.  There is no excuse for a PROFESSIONAL athlete to be that out of shape.  Clint was obviously gassed after the match, and he came in as a late sub.  Clint's man boobs and gut are obvious.  If he doesn't care enough to at least try to get into shape for what will probably be his last shot playing professionally, I don't know what can be done.  If Clint is not able to get into a shape other than round by the end of the season, I think this will spell the end of his career.

Really it sucks that the team played well except for the last 10 minutes of the first half.  Minus that let-down and
there would have been 3 points.